Identifying and definitional attributes

Metadata item type:

Data Set Specification

METeOR identifier:

352101

Registration status:

Community Services (retired), Superseded 01/05/2008

DSS type:

National Minimum Data Set (NMDS)

Scope:

The Child Protection and Support Services National Minimum Data Set (CPSS NDMS) is designed to capture information on all children and young people involved in the child protection systems throughout Australia.

There are three collections within the CPSS NMDS, all of which are unit record data. The first is the child protection specific data, which includes contacts, notifications, substantiations and services provided. The second is data on children who are on care and protection orders. The third is data on children in out-of-home care.

Care and protection orders data set

All children or young people who are under a care and protection order at 1 July of the collection year should be included, provided that there is a break of no more than 2 weeks between orders. All children who were placed on a care and protection order during the collection period should also be included.

An episode is the period of time in which a child is under a care and protection order.

The concept of an episode is crucial to the collection of information regarding a child on care and protection orders. It provides information on the length of time children are on care and protection orders and also the type of orders children are subject to.

Each order type is considered a discrete care and protection order episode, delineated by an entry date and exit date.

Metadata items in this Data Set Specification

If a child is on another type of order, or a guardianship/custody order for less than 12 months, this item should be blank.

DSS specific information:

Applicable only for children who have been on guardianship/custody orders for more than 12 months where the jurisdiction is in loco parentis.

A case plan is a written plan of action to be taken to provide the care and support required to ensure the safety and well being of a child or young person. The plan will generally include: allocation of parental responsibility; living arrangements; contact between the child or young person with his/her parents; and types of services to be provided.

If a child is on another type of order, or a guardianship/custody order for less than 12 months, this item should be blank.

DSS specific information:

Applicable only for children who have been on guardianship/custody order where the jurisdiction is in loco parentis.

This item is applicable only to children who were admitted to a guardianship/custody order during the year. The date should be recorded when the case plan has been developed and agreed to by all concerned parties. This item should be completed each time a child is placed on a guardianship/custody order.

A case plan is a written plan of action to be taken to provide the care and support required to ensure the safety and well being of a child or young person. The plan will generally include: allocation of parental responsibility; living arrangements; contact between the child or young person with his/her parents; and types of services to be provided.

A date of expiry is when the order the child is under is no longer applicable. It should be recorded for each separate care and protection order episode. This can be for a number of reasons including:

The child is placed on a higher level order than the one they are currently onThe order expires The child turns 18 years The child moves interstate The child dies The child returns home and is no longer considered by the child protection authority to be in need of care.In some circumstances, the date of expiry will be the same as the entry date from a previous episode, e.g. when a child moves directly from one level order to another level order.

If the order did not expire during the year, the date 11111111 should be used to indicate this.

An entry date should be recorded for each separate care and protection order episode of the child.

A new episode will begin and an entry date will be recorded in the following circumstances:

A child is placed on a care and protection order for the first time in their life.A child is placed on a higher level order than the one they are currently on.The higher level order expires and the child is placed on a lower level order. This date will be recorded once the higher level order expires. A child moves from one jurisdiction to another and the order is transferred to the second jurisdiction.In some circumstances, the entry date will be the same as the exit date from a previous episode, e.g. when a child moves directly from one level order to a different level order.

This data item delineates a care and protection order episode and is qualified by reason for entry.